2006 Passat 2.0T FSI dreaded HPFP

[joshhol]

Hello,

I'm posting here about this gasser because I don't know where else to do so.

My brother has a 2006 Passat 2.0T FSI with 119K miles that just had the cam follower wear through on the high pressure fuel pump. He's looking at a $5.5K repair.

The kicker is, he's taken this car to the local VW dealer for service on several occasions, including a timing belt replacement within the last year. Shouldn't they have warned him about this chronic problem or at least checked the follower? On a very cursory search, it seems easy to check this issue. Wouldn't it have been plainly obvious during a timing belt swap?

My brother is not necessarily mechanically savvy so he didn't get ahead of this issue. Still, the fact that this problem was significant enough for VW to extend the warranty on this issue should at least mean the dealership has enough sense to check it if they are in there. No? It seems borderline negligence to me and I'm advising him that he shouldn't be on the hook for the entire cost of repair.

Does this sound reasonable, feasible, possible? From what I've read, the warranty was extended to 10 years, 120K miles, so technically he is SOL. But still, having the dealer look at it multiple times without warning him seems very poor.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[MichaelB]

Big number one the kicker is as you say he had the timing belt replaced...............that engine does not have a timing belt it is all about the timing chain and the worn-out tensioner. All the TSI, FSI engines do it, it is up to you as an educated owner to know about it and have the chain and tensioner evaluated by a trusted VW mech, As the engine matures do not think that the dealer will tell you before it fails as they just fix it after it fails not before......they don't tell you that it might fail. They just repair it after it does fail.

 

[joshhol]

That car has a timing belt. Thanks though

 

[Matt-98AHU]

Big number one the kicker is as you say he had the timing belt replaced...............that engine does not have a timing belt it is all about the timing chain and the worn-out tensioner. All the TSI, FSI engines do it, it is up to you as an educated owner to know about it and have the chain and tensioner evaluated by a trusted VW mech, As the engine matures do not think that the dealer will tell you before it fails as they just fix it after it fails not before......they don't tell you that it might fail. They just repair it after it does fail.

The first generation of 2.0Ts were indeed timing belt driven. The belt drove the exhaust cam directly, the back of the exhaust cam then had an adjuster and a chain that drove the intake cam (and was able to vary the intake cam's timing).

As for the OP, removing the HPFP is a little bit of a pain, and most places aren't going to bother unless they sense the upsell will be near certainty. It is a common known problem, sure, but most places aren't going to bother a slightly tricky engine disassembly just for a basic inspection if you aren't specifically asking them to do so or there's not a code/trouble light present that points them to that as being a problem area and you're specifically asking them to diagnose the code/light.

The timing belt does not require them to remove the HPFP in any way, the only thing is it would be easier to replace the intake cam while the timing belt is being done, so then would have been an opportune time to replace the intake cam and the follower, but if there were no signs present of an issue at that time, most aren't going to bother doing that extra work for free on a "maybe."

 

[joshhol]

The follower was completely worn through, the cam is junk. If there are metal flakes in the oil pan, is that engine history?

 

[oilhammer]

That is an easy job. And no way 5k. There is a TSB for this. Improved camshafts and HPFP followers came along in 2008, which sadly was the last year for the BPY engine as that was the year for the phaseout to the craptactular EA888 family of garbage engines.

So long as the follower didn't chew up the plunger on the HPFP, no need to replace that. Just the cam and follower. Keep in mind, this issue is often made worse by incorrect oil (another TSB for that), as well as the BPY's appetite for oil allowing those that go unchecked to run low often.

Book time is about 7 hours for this job. You can find a camshaft for usually around $250, the follower is about $25, then a few seals and gaskets, an oil change... whole deal should cost much more than $1500. If the HPFP was damaged, you can usually get those for $300 or so. The timing belt can be reused. There are a couple of special tools involved in getting the camshaft adjuster unit and chain off and on, and it is critical this get done properly. If the chain/tensioner are worn, those can be had for around $200. So total $2k tops.